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Bally Mc Hurt Body

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

For a lot of reasons, I am really excited to be focusing on the Olympic distance this year. I have been so focused on finishing 70.3s with a decent run the last few seasons that it has been way too long since I last focused on going FAST.

I really sorta miss it. The last year I focused on olys (2007?) I was such a newby, had only done one sprint and just wanted to finish as close to 3 hours as I could. Now I am hoping to transfer as much endurance as I have left over from ironman training and laying some speed and power work on top to make some people who try to catch me hurt. Bad.

The last few years were purely competitive against myself and the clock. I almost never bothered to even look at my AG standings (but when I did, they were never that spectacular). They were fun, but it is time to change it up. Variety, ya know?

For whatever reason, I think I will be able to be more competitive at the shorter distance, and not just with myself, but with other M25-29 ers. I am not quite sure what has got me under that delusion, but I think it has some merit. I am just not sure where, so don’t ask me to explain.

With trying to get myself faster and more powerful, I decided to bring something back to my training plan that I should have been doing more of in the first place: strength training.

I loathe going to a gym, so I invested in a new toy. A 35lb kettlebell. And I decided to name him too, Bally McHurtbody.

The last two weeks me and Mr. McHurtbody have been having a grand ‘ol time together doing swings, lunges, squats, shoulder presses and rows. (We have only just met and aren’t on a first name basis yet.)

And heck, even if it doesn’t make me any faster, hopefully it will help me look less like an emaciated rail thin ironman and more like someone with some actual upper body muscle mass….

| Posted in Training Log, Triathlon | 3 Comments »

The Talk – 2011 Edition

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Last weekend Sam and I sat down and had “the talk.” No, not the one about babies or buying a house. (not yet at least…)

You know, the one about race schedules? I don’t know about everyone else, but this conversation is ESSENTIAL as someone who lives with their long-term significant other. Getting Sam’s buy in on my race schedule and making compromises or changes when necessary is always better early in the year rather than in the heat of triathlon season.

Because we are planning our wedding this fall, we had to find a fine balance between:

1. me spending too much time training and racing and
2. having a psycho-grumpy groom because he isn’t training and racing enough.

We settled on sticking to local races and focusing on the Olympic distance, which would still allow me to try and qualify for age group nationals in Vermont. Plus, I’d be able to race in the morning and be back home before 2pm (usually) without having to dedicate the whole weekend to road trips, hotels and everything else that comes along with longer distance races.

I also picked races depending on where some of my tri friends will be racing too so I can be more social than I was last year and share some post-race celebration beers with some friendly faces.

May 8 – New England Season Opener (sprint)
June 4 – Rev3 Quassy (olympic)
June 25- No Sleep Till PTown (135 mile bike from Boston to Provincetown)
July 17 – Fairlee Triathlon (olympic)
August 6 – Beach 2 Beacon (10k)
August 14 – Wild Fish One Mile Swim
August 20 – Age Group Nationals (olympic)
August 28 – Kennebunk FireMan Triathlon (olympic)
September 10 – Pumpkinman (sprint)

Does my schedule overlap with any of my faithful blog readers? Who will I see out on the race course this summer?!

| Posted in Training Log, Triathlon | 10 Comments »

100 Day Challenge Update: Day 33

Monday, March 28th, 2011

I am officially one-third of the way into the 100 day challenge. There are still a few days that I haven’t been able to avoid missing, but they have become more rare and I have been able to make them up on the weekends to stay on track.

The one major lesson so far is that the limiting factor is not my body’s ability to handle the frequency or volume (45 minutes a day doesn’t add up to all that much in the end), but it is my ability to plan ahead. Juggling the work, social and athletic calendars takes just as much focus as the workouts.

It also helps that I have my blogging buddies Erika and Jessi doing it with me so I can get the occasional email or text of encouragement just when I need it.

Question: How do you manage to your work/personal/triathlon calendars?

| Posted in Training Log, Triathlon | 3 Comments »